stages of attachment identified by schaffer

• stage 1: asocial 0-6 weeks

  babies display innate behaviours (crying/smiling) that ensure proximity to any potential caregiver. anyone can comfort them, as they do not prefer any individual caregiver
• stage 2: indiscriminate attachment 6 weeks - 7 months

  infants develop the ability to tell the difference between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, smiling more at the people they see frequently
• stage 3: specific attachment: 7-9 months

  babies form a strong attachment to a primary caregiver, most often their mother. it is in this stage that separation anxiety and stranger anxiety develop
• stage 4: multiple attachment 9/10+ months

  the infant starts to form attachments with other regular caregivers (like fathers, grandparents, siblings) and stranger anxiety starts to decrease
• schaffer and Emerson

  conducted a longitudinal observation of 60 working-class babies from Glasgow

  it was found that separation anxiety occurred in most babies by 25-32 weeks, with stranger anxiety starting one month later.

  in the 18 month follow-up, 87% had developed multiple attachments

  the strongest attachment was to those mothers with consistent caregiver-infant interactions

  results suggest development occurs in the stages outlined by Schaffer, and the quality of caregiver-infant interactions influences the strength of attachment between infants and their mothers
• as infants and their families were observed in their own homes, the study had a high level of mundane realism; the experience of strangers visiting the family home or mothers leaving the room was normal for the infants
• the sample in schaffer's study may not be generalisable or have temporal validity as it only included a group of working-class mothers in 1960s Glasgow